Open Up
by Tabbyluna
Summary: It was silly of her, she thought. These were the feelings of teenagers, not grown adults living by themselves. But regardless, they were her feelings. For now, until further notice, she would have to be stuck with them.


Her third date that month. Her third man that month. If you wanted to put things in perspective, she had dated fifteen different men so far in the year, and it was only February. Nightfall wondered how she knew so many people. But then again, this was Stormblade she was teaming about. The girl could spend five minutes in a public restroom and walk out with a friend.

"He's talking me out to this really beautiful restaurant by the beach," she said, carefully applying mascara around her eyes. "I've seen pictures of it online. It's so exclusive, but he said he went out and made a reservation just for me."

Nightfall always watched her get dressed for her dates. From the time she stepped out of the shower, to adding the finishing touches of her makeup, she would always be there listening to Stormblade talk. And she would talk about anything. From trivial matters like her makeup and choice of dress, to more serious topics. Love, life, their futures. All that deep stuff.

When they first moved in together, Nightfall asked her why she was so comfortable with her being in the same room. "You know I'm a lesbian, right?" The way Stormblade behaved was unlike any other girl she had lived with. Usually, there would have been uncomfortable glances and hints for her to get out of the room.

But when she asked that, Stormblade merely nodded, and held her hand. "Yeah. I'm bi, and you're not my first roommate either." And that changed everything, because she understood.

Stormblade smoothened out her feathers, and twirled around in her rented maroon dress. Short and form-fitting, Nightfall thought she looked absolutely beautiful in it. "So, what do you think?"

"Well," she began, considering her words carefully. "You look pretty good tonight."

"Pretty good, huh?" She grinned. And Nightfall could have sworn she saw her blush a little. "Well, I hope so. This dress was pretty damn expensive. It better get me someone before Valentine's Day."

Nightfall merely nodded. Nodded, smiled, and ignored that twisty feeling in her stomach. The thousands of other things she wanted to say to her at that moment. She tried to drown it all out. Key word being 'try'.

Stormblade slowly slumped next to her on her bed, and whipped out her phone to call a cab. As she did it, her hand brushed slightly against Nightfall's making the twisting in her stomach much stronger. She took a deep breath, an attempt to try and take her mind off the thoughts rushing through her head. But that only made her more aware of the way Stormblade smelled. Some sort of faint floral perfume. A scent which made her feel much, much warmer and a little more giddy.

"Thanks for helping me out with these things, by the way. I know all this dressing up stuff isn't really your thing, but I like how you're always there to hear me talk about whatever." She placed a hand on Nightfall's shoulder, an action which simultaneously snapped her back to reality and made her feel giddier and warmer.

"Yeah, no problem. I… I hope this date's the one," She managed to say. God, this was torture. A million things in her head, and she just couldn't say any of it.

Stormblade smiled."I hope so too."

Stormblade had shared a dream she had with her one night. She had always wanted to wake up on February Fourteenth with a partner beside her. Then, they would cuddle and make out and maybe make love. And they would spend the entire day together just like that. "We would both have to take a day off from work for that to happen, but I do wish that could be a reality someday."

At the time, Nightfall thought that it was cheesy. A little too cheesy for someone like her. But as she watched Stormblade walk out the door, with a silver purse and without a sweater (She planned on wrapping up in him), that sounded like heaven on earth.

Once her roommate left, she walked to the kitchen and prepared herself dinner. One cup noodle, a little canned beer, and her laptop full of urgent unanswered emails to read while her noodles cooked. Joy.

Work was taking over her life. The last date she ever went on was in college. And usually, she didn't mind that. She thought that she was living a perfectly fulfilling life without a partner, and she could spend the rest of her twenties like this. Her family loved her, her roommate was quirky but overall alright. She was working her dream job as a marine biologist. Life was alright, if not good.

But that evening, she just couldn't seem to focus on work. Whenever she tried to, no matter how she tried to refocus, the only thing that she could think of was Stormblade all dolled up. The way her makeup framed her features. The way the fabric wrapped around her, showing off her figure. The way she spun around in her bedroom, that mental image was locked in her mind. And it kept playing again and again, as if it were a broken record.

And the part which was the hardest to admit was how much she was enjoying herself in the process.

She knew her roommate tended to prefer men. For every twenty dates she goes on, maybe one would be with a woman. But she knew she could possibly fall in love with her. And that was the part which was driving her crazy. Which was making her heart race and her face warm and flushed.

It was silly of her, she thought. These were the feelings of teenagers, not grown adults living by themselves. But regardless, they were her feelings. For now, until further notice, she would have to be stuck with them.

She sighed, and checked on her cup noodles. Three minutes should have passed by then. She told herself that she would finish her meal, take a couple sips of beer, and then try to focus on work again. Sighing to herself, she tried her best to take her mind off her roommate. Her roommate. Her crush. The girl who smelt like flowers, looked like a model, sounded like a songbird, and treated her like an equal.

Eventually, she settled into doing her work. With music playing through her speakers, she finally got her head in the game, and once the clock struck eleven she was done. Looking at the clock, she could only imagine that the date went well. Usually, when dates went south, Stormblade would be home at eight or nine. Once, she shuffled through the door at seven with a purse full of breadsticks. That was a particularly bad one. One which they joked about to this day.

Eleven, and she wasn't home. Nightfall hoped that she had fun.

There was the creepy sound of a key being turned, and Nightfall turned her attention to the apartment door. But when Stormblade tumbled through the door, she wasn't smiling or grinning. There weren't any flowers or chocolates in her hands. She didn't look happy at all. Quite the contrary actually, she looked miserable.

"Storm?" She asked, walking up to her. Up close, she could see that her makeup was all smudged and her face was slightly red.

"He stood me up." She used her forearm to swipe at her face. "Lied to me. He didn't even book the damn thing. He just left me standing there alone like a goddamn idiot."

There was anger in her voice. A strange sound to come out of Stormblade. Nightfall could barely think of a thing to say to her in that state. After dozens and dozens of bad dates, she thought that she was an expert at comforting her friend. But in her current state, she was at a loss for how to handle that brand of hurt.

"Why didn't you come back?" She asked finally.

"I was already all dressed up. I didn't want to put in all this effort and admit defeat like that. So, I went out to a bar and had a couple of whiskeys." She sat on the couch, and grabbed a throw pillow to bury her face in. "But just two, don't worry."

"Right then." Said Nightfall, surprised at how quickly Stormblade seemed to have calmed down. Her being angry was so rare, Nightfall didn't even know how long she often stayed angry. "You… you need anything?"

"Nothing much. Just… just come and keep me company okay?" She patted the space next to her, and the minute Nightfall sat down, Stormblade placed her head into the crook of her neck.

It was a surprise, for sure. But Nightfall couldn't find it in her to ask her what she was doing.

"You've always been a great friend to me, Nightfall," she said, reaching out and grabbing her hand. Stormblade always had nice hands. Long, slender fingers, perfect for piloting planes and building wooden airplane models. Feeling them in her larger hands, it made that twisty feeling in her stomach return. "Yeah, you've always been a great friend."

"Er, thanks Stormblade."

"Is that all you want to say?" Asked Stormblade. To Nightfall's surprise, the anger returned in her voice. Her eyes widened, and all she could do was stutter in response.

"Come on Nightfall," she half-purred, half-dared. "I've dated more people than I could count. I know what attraction looks like, and if you could just stop lying to yourself, stop holding back like that, I think the two of us would be so much happier."

And then before Nightfall could say anything, she felt Stormblade's lips press against her mouth. And immediately, the twisty feeling in her stomach unraveled. And she felt like time and space was non-existent. And she felt both frozen and on fire at the same time. And she wanted to take this feeling and keep it forever. And her hands danced. And the fabric of the dress. And the smell of flowers. And the sound of a songbird singing her praises.

The next morning, she woke up next to Stormblade wearing her shirt. It was an old cotton shirt, full of holes and it was also a bit too big for her. Nevertheless, she thought that she looked way better in it than the dress she had on last night.

She watched her silently, while the sun's golden light shone through the window onto Stormblade. Seeing her at such peace with the world, neither excited or stressed, it was such a rare sight to behold. It felt like something she needed to protect. This version of Stormblade, unaffected by the world around her. At complete peace.

She wanted to keep this image of her, and lock it up where only she could find it. The rest of the world, the way it treated her, didn't deserve to see her at her most peaceful. There was a voice at the back of her head chastising her for being greedy, but she didn't care. She had a lot to think about last night, and at that point, it was too late to regret being greedy.

Nightfall turned to lie on her back, and silently pleaded to whatever god that was out there that this would be the way they woke up on February fourteenth.

**I'm a few days late for Femslash February, but I'm determined to work hard and hopefully do more than 29 stories. So, here's the first one. I wrote 95% right before work and the remaining 5% during my break. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it.**

**Side note, but this was partially inspired by the song Curious by Hayley Kiyoko. This fic was originally named after the song until I realised that it doesn't make sense as a title.**


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